Around the city & state: Katy shooting leaves man wounded

Katy police have few leads so far in a shooting early Monday that left a man wounded.

The man was shot about 5:30 a.m. in the 5800 block of Roberts, Katy police said.

The man, whose name has not been released, was flown by LifeFlight medical helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital. His condition was not released.

What sparked the gunfire has not been determined. The gunman sped away in a white Ford pickup. No description of the gunman was available.

3 men and a teenarrested with aidof a helicopter

Three men and a teenage boy were arrested early Monday morning on the roof of a school in northwest Houston after they were spotted near a stolen pickup and ran from officers, officials said.

The incident began about 2:30 a.m. in the 1800 block of West Little York, when the men were seen near a burgundy F-350 pickup in a secluded area along the road, said Kese Smith, a spokesman for the Houston Police Department.

When officers approached, the four ran. The truck's engine was running but the pickup had no ignition key in it, which indicated it may have been stolen.

Officers requested an HPD K-9. The four were tracked to Charles R. Drew Academy at 1910 W. Little York. The K-9 indicated the four may have been on the school roof.

Officers in an HPD helicopter saw the four on the roof, Smith said. The officers used a Houston Fire Department ladder truck to climb onto the roof. Then they took the four into custody.

The men, a 21-year-old and two 18-year-olds, are expected to be charged with evading arrest. A 14-year-old boy was referred to Harris County Juvenile Probation authorities and is expected to be charged with unauthorizied use of a motor vehicle and evading arrest.

Austin council, mayor at odds over funding

At a budget meeting Monday morning, the Austin City Council approved extra money for after-school programs, more library hours and a survey of historic buildings, among other things.

But there was one voice speaking loud and clear against those and other programs: Mayor Lee Leffingwell.

The mayor voted against all but one of the budget amendments, saying the City Council should be lowering the property tax rate rather than adding in more goodies.

Leffingwell also tried and failed at the start of Monday's meeting to enact a lower tax rate.

The city recently was told by the Travis Central Appraisal District that it will have more property than expected to tax this year, thanks to all of the construction happening around town.

The mayor said the city should use that windfall to cut the proposed tax rate of 48.09 cents per $100 of property value down to 47.84 cents. A median-value home of $202,254 would be assessed $968 instead of $973 next year under that lower rate. Both are higher than the amount a median-valued home was assessed in city property taxes this year: $931.

Other council members said they need to balance property taxes with programs that deserve more money as they put the final touches on the 2014-15 budget.